Siblings
by Squall'sScar
Summary: Takes place two years before the series. The carnival comes to town.
1. Chapter 1

Disclaimer: Setsuna's mine, but Angel Sanctuary belongs to Kaori Yuuki.

Squall's Scar: "Wait, I want Michael, too. Can I have Sara, Jibrielle, and the all the rest of the cast?"

Kaori Yuuki: "No, they're mine."

Squall's Scar: (numb with shock that Kaori Yuuki is standing before her)

I didn't understand why he didn't want to hang out with me. I loved him, just like a little sister should. There was nothing I desired more than being with my older fourteen-year-old brother, Setsuna. This weekend was my target today. A carnival was in town. My goal was to get him to take me. The plan was to do his chores, along with mine so we could have the weekend free.

Mother asked me to make sure my homework was done, so I got started right away on that. Finishing my work for school in record time, I raced to get started mowing the lawn for Setsuna. The lawn mower was heavy and I couldn't figure out how to start it. But that didn't deter me, I looked all over the mower to see where the 'on' button was, but I had a hard time. My confusion must have been noticeable, for Setsuna walked out of the house and towards me. The sun shone on his face.

With his left hand, he shielded his eyes from the bright light and called out, "Sara, what are you doing?"

Getting up, I wiped at my bottom.

I grinned, "I wanted to help you mow the lawn."

He shook his head sideways, "I won't allow it. Get back inside."

A whine escaped my throat, "Why?"

"Because if you disobey your big brother, a man called "The Boogeyman" is going to come to your room at night and kidnap you!"

He has never lied to me, so I believed him. Pounding my feet against the ground, I ran back inside the house. Then through the window, I watched Setsuna turn on the mower and push it across the lawn cutting the grass. Not taking my eyes off of him, I called out to our mother.

"What other chores does he have to do today?"

After a second of thought, she called back, "He has to take out the trash and clean his room."

"Ok!"

Jumping off the chair I had brought to the window to watch my big brother, I headed to the kitchen.

Pointing at the tied-up trash bag, I asked, 'Is this the trash to be taken out?"

"Yes, but you really should let Setsuna do it. You have your own chores."

"But I'm done."

"So you thought you would play 'good sister' and do your brother's for free?"

A giggle burst out, "I wanted him to take me to the carnival tomorrow!"

Suddenly mother's expression changed, "No, you can't go with him. I'll take you instead."

My high hopes were crashed, causing me to blurt out, "But I want to go with him!"

Her hand reached out and slapped me, "Now I forbid you to go at all!"

No! I wanted to go him only! Tears filled my eyes and I locked myself in my room. No one came to bother me. It was strange. Normally someone would knock on the door and tell me dinner's ready. But the time for dinner had past. Curiosity set in to stop my wailing. Quietly I opened the door and saw that across my room, Setsuna's door was closed. When I looked down the hall, I saw my mother's door was closed as well. Sneaking out of my room, I went to the kitchen and saw that little had been done. An idea popped in my head. Knowing that it was wrong didn't stop me. The plan was set into action.

First, my fingers grabbed the trash bag and set it outside for pick-up. Second, I called up my brother's friend, Kira, and told him to pick up Setsuna and go out somewhere together. Kira didn't ask why since he probably knew it was a surprise for Setsuna. Third, I went back to my room and waited for Kira to show up. When he did, Setsuna answered the door and left with him. A huge grin broke out of my face. Next, I hid myself behind closed doors in Setsuna's room, so Mother wouldn't see me cleaning his room.

While cleaning, I came across a picture Setsuna and I had taken together with Kira when we were younger. He was leaning on Kira with his arms raised high, and Kira had his arm around both of us. The stray picture was put away safely in the first drawer of his desk. Hand-picking his clothes off the floor and throwing them in the hamper was no easy task. Generally his room was clean. But today it seemed that he had a thrown his things around in anger. Mother must have yelled at him for something. Something caught my eye as I was straightening his room out. A bed sheet hung over some kind of a huge picture in the corner of his room. The bed sheet was stripped from the painting to return itself to the bed. But what it was hiding was surprising.

A huge unfinished painting of a beautiful girl with long flowing blonde hair stood on an easel. She wore a red skirt and her top wasn't painted on yet. Nor was the background. Unbeknownst that she was being watched, she slept. The painting looked so natural and beautiful; it was as if the artist had watched her sleep in real life and painted it by memory of how he saw her. The question was who was she? Was she a girl in his class? Did she sleep in his class and he sat through it watching her? Maybe she was his model? But why didn't he bring her home? I've never a girl like this at our school, either. Suddenly, the front door slamming snapped my attention back.

Covering it back up with the bed sheet, I jumped back into my room before he got to the staircase. Now all his chores had been done! He was free to take me on a date to the carnival! I heard him open the door to his room. Then I heard him shout my name in anger more than thanks. Slowly I left my room to face his wrath. Maybe I could try pouting my lip and getting away with it. But when I saw Setsuna outside his door with a furious look at me, I saw all hope of forgiveness flush down the toilet.

"Sara! Why did you enter my room without my permission!"

Cringing, a small voice answered, "I wanted to take you on a date to the carnival tomorrow."

He put his fingers to his forehead, "What does that have anything to do with entering my room?"

"I cleaned it so you wouldn't have any chores leftover."

Mother's door still hadn't opened. Hoping she would hear the noise and come out to help me, I was disappointed when Setsuna continued in his scolding. Looked like she wasn't going to keep me away from him this time.

"Sara, I'm not taking you to the carnival."

Hurt filled my heart.

"Then I won't speak to you ever again."

This time he looked into my eyes.

"I can only be your brother. Nothing more."

The same hurt filled my soul.


	2. Chapter 2

Author's Notes: I don't own Angel Sanctuary no matter how much I flog Kaori Yuuki. Nor do I own her name.

Chapter 2

The carnival was here. Even with Setsuna's rejection, I was going to take him. I just wanted to spend time with him. Was that so wrong? I loved him, even if he rejected it. It was the first time, I realized that my own brother had the power to hurt me so much. Sadly, it was none other than my heart that gave him this power without my knowledge. My feelings stirred wondering what he meant by his last sentence.

_ I can only be your brother. Nothing more._

Of course he could be nothing more! Why did he say something like that? It tore me apart with such fierceness I never knew he or anyone was capable of. Still I ended up winning. We were on our way to the carnival, with Setsuna walking miles behind me, pretending that he didn't know me. I didn't care. If something happened, I knew he would have to acknowledge me, even as his sister. When we entered the main gate, we bought tickets and headed inside. I hated funhouses and the like, but I loved the games! I gave my ticket to the game booth where I was to shoot a basket and get a wonderful prize. My heart was set on the huge panda bear wearing a brown cloak, like Sherlock Holmes. With five shots, I had to make all five in order to get that panda, which I had already named Locke. I made two of the five shots and gave the guy another ticket to try again. But, a huge arm pushed me out of the way and took the ball from me.

"Brother!"

"You must want one of those prizes pretty bad to try again with only two out of five."

I stood back and watched him with awe. Was he really to try to make all five baskets so I could get Locke? He looked cool as he made the first basket with ease. His second basket was no surprise. But, if he made the next one, he would shame me.

I cried out, "That's enough, Brother! I can get the rest by myself!"

The ticket booth guy ignored us and looked away. A small crowd of girls had formed around us to watch Setsuna play. This was when he pushed me away and made the third basket. Tears formed in my eyes. Was he mocking me? Did he think it was fun to make a fool out of me just because he was better than me? Suddenly, I lost interest in the game and the prize. While he was so busy showing off to the girls, I left. I still had tickets in my hand and wanted to play. A booth with bottles laid out on the ground attracted me. The ticket booth guy said that all I had to do was get all three rings on the bottles and I would win a grand prize! This was like horseshoes, so I started the game, after handing my ticket to him. I didn't particularly see any prizes I liked, but my eyes found their way to a basketball signed by his favourite basketball player, Kaori Yuuki! Setsuna would love this! Mother had taught me to play horseshoes since she was English, so this game would be a cinch to me! I took the three rings and threw one over to the first bottle. Now, it was my turn to show off. My second target was the second bottle in the same row. I wanted it to be clear that I was throwing exactly where I was aiming. Two or three guys had stopped and cheered me on for the third and final ring. The third bottle in the same row soon found itself with a new necklace as I heard the guys behind me shout their praises. The booth master asked me which prize I wanted, so I pointed to the autographed basketball. He took it down and my new-found fan club began following me around.

"Hey there, what's your name?"

I muttered my name and they were soon asking me out to basketball games thinking I liked the sport. I desperately wanted to get away from them, because I noticed the other girls looking at me with jealousy. Pretending I needed to go to the bathroom, I had them wait outside. Inside, I tried to push open the window and escape, but it was stuck. With more force, I pushed it open and wiggled through. But, to my surprise, I found Setsuna wiggling through the window right next to mine!

He saw me and sighed, "Sara, can you help me through?"

Grabbing him by the waist, I pulled until he fell out. Behind him, he had tied a red ribbon to him and a panda bear with a brown cloak! My heart thumped.

"Brother, what's that?"

"But, he pointed at my basketball.

"What's that, Sara?"

Handing the package to him, I told him, "I won a game of horseshoes, but this was the prize. I have no use for it, so you can take it."

He untied the panda and handed it over to me.

"Same here. I won that basketball game and they threw this at me, without letting me choose my own prize. You can have it though, since I don't want it."

A fit of giggles broke out, as we exchanged our gifts. He put his basketball down and hugged me. I couldn't hear anything except the beating of my heart. None of my muscles would move, but every inch of me was trembling. He whispered in my right ear.

"I know you want me."

My nerves suddenly were on edge. I thought he was just a dumb brother who knew nothing about girls. It was just recently, I realized I wanted him myself. But boy, had I underestimated him. He really was a man now to be able to tell apart my feelings for him as a sister and as a woman.

As my legs wobbled, he continued, "But, I'm not hugging you seriously."

He was just playing with me? This moment was just a moment of fun for him? How could he say this to me, if he knew how I felt? This was the cruelest rejection! Wrapping me in his arms and then telling me that he was playing with me was too much! He never hugged me like this, as a woman. I felt so torn. How was I going to react to this? I didn't want to be his sister anymore. I wanted to stay in this rejected moment. Because he rejected me as a woman, not his sister. Not one word would form in my mouth. My tongue had been lashed and his arms were the whip that cracked against my heart. Why was he hugging me like this and saying something so horrible? Something I never wanted to hear from him, something I never thought I would hear from him, since he was never to figure out my feelings.

Still my mouth failed as he cracked the whip, "I was just playing with you…"

Finally, I uttered, "…Brother…"


End file.
